False Reflections
by CheynotShy
Summary: When Loki looks through his father's study, he finds a mirror that has a room contained in it. Who is on the other side of the glass however captures his interest.
1. Chapter 1 Childhood is Interesting

There were rare times that he was allowed in father's study. Less so he was in there by permission when he wanted to take a peek at the books that contained magic and spells beyond his skill level. But Loki was also curious about the few items that were stored in there as well. He had heard from others in the court that these items were said to contain magic.

Magic different from their own.

He had to wonder what was so special about these items that his father had to keep them away from prying eyes. To only contain, but never use for himself. It was such a waste in Loki's mind. Who wouldn't want to use a different kind of magic, to see what it could be capable of?

It was a lecture he had heard from both his mother and father multiple times. That using magic or items containing magic of unknown origin wasn't the smartest route. That he should heed their warnings about such things because there was more to the world than satisfying your own curiosity, Loki. Even with their voices in the back of his mind, repeatedly saying this, Loki still wanted to see and test those items himself.

He hovered at the end of the hallway, using a spell to make anyone who walked by to not notice him. Peeking around the corner, he made sure to watch for the door opening. If he could sneak in after his father there was less of a chance being caught. And more time to study over a few of the magical objects.

An hour or so went by, with the light shifting from late morning to early afternoon. Still, Loki stayed at that end of the hallway, knowing his father would have to leave the room at some point. It was until one of the servants knocked on the door and entered the room that Loki knew that time was soon. He pulled himself back into the hallway, not wanting to get caught so soon.

Noting that his father left the study from the sound of a door closing and the footsteps, Loki quietly made his way towards the door of the study. He watched the last of his father's robes disappeared around the corner and he couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. For all that his father was known for, it was fun to trick him in little ways like this. Opening the door, he quickly and quietly shut it once he was in.

There were papers scattered on the big desk along with the books that his father was using for reference. Whatever business he had to attend to was of no interest to Loki. Not even for the fact he would be doing it one day as the future king of Asgard. First, he went to one of the objects that had been boxed and then put in plain view on the bookshelf behind the desk. As best as he could, Loki quietly climbed the shelf and grabbed at the box.

With an arm wrapped around it, Loki fell backwards into his father's chair that he had positioned to catch his fall. It was soft with the cushions being made with the softest feathers and soft fabric that could withstand the weight of a child like himself falling on them. It was also big enough that it could fit his father, older brother and himself comfortably. Quickly he opened the box, getting through the locks that his father put on there much quicker than he had expected.

When opening the box, all he saw was a watch with lettering that he had never seen before. Even when he focused on it, the Allspeak couldn't translate it into any words that made sense. After his head started to ache, Loki put all the locks back in place and the box back where he found it. When landing back on the chair, he let his eyes wander for another magical item to look over.

His eyes landed on something in the corner, covered in a white sheet. Loki went over to it and pulled off the sheet to see a mirror. It was an odd design. Much simpler than what he was used to. But it still had the elegance to it that captured his attention quick.

The gold around the glass still shined like it was new and had designs carved into it that Loki wished he had the time to study. There was gold used for the feet and it was thinner than what he expected to hold such a large mirror. But the only thing that was strange was that it only reflected his image back to him.

Loki knew that his father wasn't vain enough for a mirror in his study. It had a sheet covering it, after all, it would be too much work take on and off if he wanted to take a glance at his own face. Besides he and his mother shared a mirror in the bathroom that they had. There was no use for another mirror.

Unless it was magical after all?

Then he had to find a way to make it do what it was created for. Loki went back to the shelf looking for the books that he would need to search through. Quickly he skimmed through chapters that had any mention of magical mirrors or how to reveal something hidden.

An hour passed by before Loki was able to find anything. It was just a small paragraph, something that would be easily missed if he hadn't been searching for it. He read it and then went searching for the things he needed. Everything he needed was in the study, no worries of being caught by the servants if he left the room now.

It didn't take long before he was back in front of the mirror once more. With the items at hand, Loki went to work on the spell. Time flew by him, the light getting closer to late afternoon now, but all he could focus on was getting the spell right.

When everything was done, he looked up at the mirror, still seeing his own reflection. With determination, Loki stood up and put the powder he had created all around the edge of the mirror where the glass met gold. Then started to say the words that would give him what was really there instead of the illusion that was covering it up.

He could feel the thrum of his magic through his body as he continued to speak the words. Where the glass met gold it started to glow white. Lightly at first, but as he continued to speak the spell it started to grow brighter and brighter until Loki had to force his eyes to close if wanted to see anything after this.

It wasn't until he spoke the last words that he noticed that the mirror wasn't glowing anymore. Instead of seeing his own reflection, Loki saw a room. It was different from anything that he saw in the palace. Where there was gold etched into every little crevice, crook and cranny. Markings and the royal symbol carved in every possible place a person could look. Not a lot of other colours besides gold and what was approved to be hung up for curtains and other tapestries.

But most importantly, was the size of the whole palace. Not many knew of the secret passageways and hiding spots that could get you away from prying eyes in a moments notice. Not like Loki did.

The room before him had none of those things in it. The floor and walls were a light grey colour, almost looking blue in the low light of the early morning. The stone floor had patterns that were circular, almost looking like they were carved. A closer look, however, showed that it was most likely created with magic or in some other way to get it to look like that. There were also stone bookshelves, carved with designs almost similar to the mirror that sat before Loki. It was filled with books and he felt the excitement of maybe getting the chance to see what was in the pages.

Between the shelves was a fireplace with a low burning fire going in it. Above that was some plants hanging from the tall ceilings, blooming with beauty he had only seen in the palace gardens. There even looked to be vines growing from the top of the room, going downwards. (It would eventually reach the fireplace. At least that's what Loki assumed.)

On the opposite side of the room was a desk made from a stone that was lighter than the floors, walls and shelves. Like the carved bookshelves, it was a light and delicate design and had a symbol on the front of it that Loki had never seen before. Behind the desk was a chair that looked to be carved from stone as well and had a deep red cushion to sit on. It was the only pop of colour that didn't come from stone or plant life. Behind that was another bookshelf that was also filled with books. He saw more hanging plants and vines growing down from the ceiling.

The light from the window that looked like a half moon was getting brighter, making the floor almost look like glass instead of stone. Loki was enchanted and wished he could see more of the building. See if he could find any worthy hiding places or secret passageways to use at his whim. (For a quick escape or planned out prank.)

In fact, he was so enchanted by the beauty of a single room that he failed to notice the doors in the room opening and closing. It wasn't until he saw the black cloak heading towards the fireplace that Loki finally saw that there was someone else there. The black cloak had the fading of stars at the bottom that slowly started to turn a dark blue. Along with that were a few symbols consisting of a line and circle at the end on each side of the cloak and on the back of the hood.

The hood was also a bit odd looking with how the shape of it gathered on the person's head. It was boxier rather than circular.

Loki watched as the person held up a hand to make the fire grow stronger. He only caught a glimpse of what it looked like as it quickly went back to the cloak when they were done. But it wasn't enough to identify what race they were. Loki continued to watch as they reached for books on the shelves, flipping through the pages slowly, hoping to get more information about them.

It wasn't until he heard the sound of footsteps from one of the servants coming down the hallway that he realized that the time had passed him. By now the afternoon was turning into early evening, which meant that supper was soon. It would be hours before he would be able to sneak back in.

Quickly he covered the mirror back up with the sheet. Then just as swift, he cleared up the mess from the spell. Then with speed that Thor would be jealous of, Loki dove into his father's comfy chair and picked up one of the books that his father had been looking at. Within a few seconds, the door opened to see an older woman with a stern look on her face.

"Prince Loki, you know better than to be in here without your father."

"I was only reading." He said, holding up the thick book. "I am learning magic if I want to be a mage."

"Get out of here before your father catches you. He won't be as kind as me." She said, turning away. It was likely that she wanted to keep him out of trouble. But there had been times in the past when both servants and children of court members went out of their way to make him appear bad in front of his father to gain the Allfather's favour.

He sighed and followed after her. He didn't notice the flash under the sheet as he left the room.

Hours after supper had finished. Loki crept from his room into the hallway, looking every which way before starting his journey through the palace. While most of the staff were asleep, there were guards on night duty stationed at each hallway that the Allfather wanted to be protected and the servants who cleaned and prepared anything that would be needed the next day. He had to be careful when walking since they could hear his footsteps if he made the wrong move.

However with the spell that made him invisible to them when he passed by made the journey a little easier. He even pulled a few faces at the guards, struggling to keep himself from snickering at their ignorance of what he was doing at them.

Soon Loki reached the door to the study. There were no flickering lights of candles coming from beneath the door which meant he was safe to enter. Quietly he went in, shutting the door with as little sound as he could. Reaching near the door, Loki felt for a candle to light in the dark room. When he found one, he used his magic to light it. Now being able to see, he went straight for the mirror.

He lite a few more candles that were near the mirror, giving him enough light to see into it. Then he pulled the sheet off.

There wasn't much to see since the fire in the fireplace was burning low once more. But Loki could see the person standing by the fireplace still reading through a book. Something must have caught their attention by the mirror that was letting him see into their room because they turned their body towards him.

He still couldn't see their face all that clearly with the low light, but he could see that their skin was darker than his. What surprised him was that they started to walk towards him. Loki scrambled backwards, trying to get up while also trying to avoid knocking the candles over. Even if he was curious about the person in the mirror, he also knew his father would be angry with Loki if he interacted with them without his permission.

Just as he was about to grab at the sheet, he saw that the person had stopped in front of the mirror. The lighting on the other side of the mirror had gotten brighter and Loki could see part of their face. The skin was blue, almost close to indigo with white spots on their face that looked similar to freckles that Loki had seen from his brother and his friends.

His heart picked up with the remembrance about the stories his mother and the servants that told him about the Jötnar before putting him to bed. How they would take any child who misbehaved or disobeyed their parents. How one touch of their icy clue skin would burn you, their deep red eyes only showing hatred and malicious intent to use your corpse to survive their realm of eternal winter.

It wasn't until Loki saw them take off their hood to show golden eyes surrounded by a dark blue of the sclera that he relaxed a little. The long white hair also gave away that they weren't Jötnar as they had dark hair. But it also meant that he had no knowledge of what race they could be.

"Who are you?" Loki asked. He cautiously went closer to the mirror, wanting to get more details about their physical appearance. When they didn't answer him he spoke up once more. "Again, who are you? What are you doing with this mirror?"

They stared at him for a few moments before moving a hand (covered in so many white freckles that Loki doubt anyone could count) towards their head and motioned towards their pointy ears. When they repeated the motion twice more, Loki suddenly got what they meant.

"You can't hear me?"

They nodded yes and Loki sighed. "What do you suppose we do to fix this? Won't do us any good if we can't understand each other."

He watched as they shuffled away from the mirror for a moment and then brought back some items to put in front of them. While looking random to anyone else in the palace, Loki knew that whatever the person was trying to do would involved magic.

They held up each item for a few moments before moving onto the next one. When the last one was placed back down in front of the mirror there was a pointed look sent his way. Loki took a few moments of his own to figure out what they were trying to say.

When it hit him, he nearly fell backwards in exclamation. "You want me to get those items?

Another nod yes and Loki took off to find the books he would need. While the items such as the cup and water would be easy to get, other items like the bright blue stone would need some research to find. With a few books in hand, he brought them back to the mirror, the candles burning lower than before.

Just before diving into the many texts he would need to check, Loki looked up to see the mysterious stranger give him a smile. While he knew he shouldn't trust someone that might be trapped in a mirror, Loki had to give a smile back. Then he dove into the books to find what he needed.

* * *

A was the morning after that Loki approached Thor at breakfast. The older boy was eating with such concentration that he hadn't seen in anything else, but weapons practice, languages and the occasional hunt they were allowed to do by themselves. Loki was sure his father wished that Thor would apply that concentration a bit more to the studies about being a fair ruler.

Thor didn't notice him until he tapped the blond's shoulder. With a grunt and annoyed look thrown his way, Loki knew he would have to be swift and quick with his words if he wanted to get his brother do what he wanted. "What do want Loki?"

"I only came to ask if you wanted to go hunting north for a bit? Heard a rumour from one of the court members that there was a beast they don't quite know what to with and I figured it would be a good excuse to get out of our studies for a while." Loki saw Thor give him a look of curiosity as he thought over what he would get out of going along with Loki's suggestion.

He didn't twitch or say anything more to make it easier for his older brother to make that decision.

"Why would you want to go? Last time we went on one, you complained the whole time."

"It was hot, Thor. You know as well as I do that I don't fare well in warmer places."

"So you're saying you won't complain this time around?"

"If that gets you to come with me, then yes I won't complain this time. Go pack after breakfast, it'll do us good to be there by the afternoon." When Thor gave him a suspicious look, he quickly added on, "The locals would sing praises about you if you quickly save them from the terror that the beast is causing them."

That seemed to satisfy his older brother as he smiled brightly. "When you put it that way, it seems I have every reason to go."

It wasn't long before he met Thor at the stables where they would quickly grab horses for both of them to ride. Loki used the spell to make them appear invisible as they rode away from the palace. It was several hours of making his brother stay on the path towards the troubled village, to keep him from not going off to fight another beast on the way and trying to focus on their surroundings so no one could sneak up on them.

By the time the village came into view, Loki was more than willing to fall into a comfortable bed and sleep away the rest of the day. Thor, however, wanted to talk to the locals to find the beast and slay it. And have songs and ballads made in his honour for doing such a thing.

With a roll of his eyes, Loki tugged on his brother's cape to get him to stop for a moment. Thor stopped and gave him an annoyed look. "As much as I would love to hear songs and ballads of you slaying the beast, getting some rest would do the both of us some good. I can't do any of my magic if I can't focus on the battle."

"Then I can go after the beast myself. I don't need magic to aid me when taking it down." Thor said boastfully, looking back towards the village with new excitement. Loki rolled his eyes again.

"You need my magic if you want to survive getting back home. Mother would be most disappointed if one of us never came back." He said, trying to bring some reason to his older brother. "Would you want to disappoint her?"

"I suppose not." Thor mumbled. He looked down at the path with a face that was trying to think of something to say back. "But how about we just rest for a few hours before going out? I can't wait until the morning to go after the beast."

"I'll agree to that. Now let's get a bed."

With that, they went towards the village. As they entered and got off their horses, they went by homes and shops. Loki noticed an odd thing. The grown-ups were more likely to smile and wave hello to Thor as they worked while giving him a more restrained welcome. A few of the children were running around, not really looking in their direction as they passed by.

They continued to walk the narrow streets, still receiving sparse attention from both the grown-ups and the children. Not until they got into the middle of the village where most of the shops were that it went from a quick hello to stares and whispers to each other.

Only the bravest of the children came up to them. Well more like Thor than the both of them really.

Loki sighed at the sight of his brother preening at the wonder and awe of the younger children, then walked towards one of the adults to ask for directions. He saw the way most of them stared him as he walked on by, but he chose to ignore it. As he reached a shop filled with weapons and magical items that would make any warrior or magician proud to own, that Loki finally saw people who were friendlier to greet.

"Welcome. What do you fancy to buy today, wandering magician?" An older woman asked him as she walked over to him. Her black hair was starting to grey, but it made her look more sophisticated rather than take away her beauty. But Loki could also see the intelligence behind her golden eyes, probably hoping to gain money out of him.

"Not a lot, I'm afraid. Just directions towards the beast that guards this." With that, he took out a drawing that he did the night before from memory of the mysterious rock. On it, it had the details copied from a book of what he should look for when searching for the rock.

She looked over the drawing, her golden eyes flickering over the details. Another customer came in, to speak to the blacksmith that was in the back and still the older woman had not answered him yet. But Loki knew that he could wait for as long as he needed.

Finally, as another customer entered the shop, she handed back the paper. She held a finger to her lips before turning away to tend to the next customer. Loki looked over the paper as he exited the shop to see her directions and a warning to take someone else with him to distract the beast had been written down.

He was impressed. The fact that she could use her magic so discreetly and without much aid showed that he'd come to the right place. (Almost on level with the Allfather if he were to compare their skills in magic.)

It wasn't until Thor pulled at his cap, nearly toppling him to the ground that Loki even noticed that time had passed by.

"Thought you needed rest brother?" Thor asked when Loki looked over at him.

"I am tired, I didn't lie about that. But my magic is perfectly fine if that's what you're referring too."

"So you lied to me earlier?" The pout and the almost whining tone on his brother made Loki want to stab him. It was an undignified thing to do, especially in front of the common folk and was a probable enough reason to stab Thor if questioned by others.

"I didn't lie Thor. I just said that I was tired and needed to sleep for a bit. Only you took it to mean that my magic was low."

"You only said you needed your magic to fight, not that you were tired!"

"If you want to waste the time I need to rest rather than go fight the beast, then go ahead. I don't have the need like you do to fight it tonight anyway."

There was an angry huff from Thor as he stomped away from Loki. Quickly he ran after his brother, knowing he would be left behind if he didn't keep up. By the time Thor stopped fully by a tavern, Loki was out of breath. Still, he forced himself to appear like he wasn't all that affected as they entered. Glancing around, he knew he would have to make sure he kept his money close. The few men that were here at this time of day was eyeing both of them, thinking of ways they could swindle money out of young boys who looked well off.

Loki followed behind Thor once more as they went towards the bar. He used the invisibility spell to make the small bag of money he had, disappear from everyone's eye, but his. Quietly he listened as Thor talked to the owner of the tavern, bargaining a price for the room to use for a few hours.

One of the unsavoury men he saw earlier tried to discreetly walk by them and take whatever money they had. Loki internally smirked when he came up empty-handed and angrily walked away. Word would spread that they weren't easy to rob and bring new challengers that Loki would gladly go against.

When the price was settled, he went to go nap for a few hours. He gave Thor a few coins to spend on drinks and gave the warning to wake him soon. Then he closed the door as Thor quickly ran back to the main part of the tavern that interested him. With a playful roll of his eyes at his brother's predictable behaviour, he made his way towards the bed.

Loki woke up to Thor shaking him, excitedly talking about what they would be fighting against soon. He continued to talk as Loki took check of the supplies that would be needed to aid in the fight as well as anything that would help when tending to injuries afterwards. He could still hear his brother's voice as he dressed.

He gave Thor the money to pay the owner and then waited outside.

Not a lot had changed about the village's appearance within the last few hours, other than the light. But he now had time to take it in rather than quickly following behind his brother. The houses weren't as big or grand as the ones that were near the palace, but he saw that they were enough for those who lived here.

The door to the tavern opened and Loki saw Thor's flowing cape and golden blond hair step out of the building. There was a hearty laugh as the door closed, smile as bright as it could possibly be and then the seriousness he had come to expect of his older brother when it came to their shared adventures when the door was firmly shut. There was still a hint of excitement for slaying a beast and being a hero to the village, but Loki knew that Thor would take this shared adventure a lot more seriously than most would expect of a prince.

"Where do we start?" Thor asked, coming closer to him.

Loki took out the piece of paper, looking over the instructions that the older woman gave him. He felt his older brother crowding against him to read the handwriting and it made him sigh annoyingly with a touch of rolled eyes. "We start by leaving the village and then following the river for a few miles before having to go into the woods. When we get to that point in our adventure, I'll tell you more."

A huff came from Thor as he answered, "Who put you charge of navigating?"

"Me, when I asked you to come with me this morning." Then with a pointed look, Loki continued. "Now let's get going."

The two of them quietly left the village and followed along with the older woman's directions. It went smoothly, even with Thor trying to amuse himself with the wildlife that they happen to spot. The only true incident as they followed the river was Thor accidentally slipping into the rushing water, exclaiming that he had spotted something that needed his attention.

Loki didn't panic, even with his brother being swept away by the currents. With practiced ease and a calm face, he managed to drag the blond out of the river. Using magic to drag his brother out of the river and then quickly dry his clothing made Loki a bit amused when Thor looked up at him.

"Have we learned our lesson?"

"Yes." Came the reluctant answer.

Thor stood up and marched forward, clearly not wanting to dwell on what happened. Loki followed, not saying a word. Some things weren't meant to be used as teasing, even if his brother would disagree.

When they reached the bend in the river that was in the directions, Loki gave the next set of directions and off they went into the woods that sat on either side of the river. The sun was reaching that point in the day that was transitioning from late afternoon to early evening. Which meant that at some point that one of them would have to light up a torch if they wanted to reach their destination.

Looking along the ground, Loki spotted a stick that would do the job. Quietly as they passed by it, he picked it up and made adjustments to it that would help sustain a fire. When the sun wasn't lighting up their way to the cave anymore, Loki quickly set fire to the torch and then used a spell to keep it burning for as long as he needed on this journey.

Thor only gave the thing a glance when he noticed the lighting had changed before continuing on. Loki with annoyed huff followed behind his brother.

The trees started to thin out as they got closer and closer to the cave. Loki noticed the piles of bones from multiple hunts that were littered about. He couldn't imagine that the hunters of the village would come out this far and this close to the beast. He also couldn't imagine that the hunters would leave bones that would be used for a multitude of other things.

The piles and piles of bones started to grow the closer they got the cave. Thor, of course, took it in stride, liking the fact that there was a sign that he was getting closer to a battle against the beast. Loki, however, felt a sense of caution that he always got when going on these adventures. When they started to trench on the beast's territory, got close enough to see their home and smell whatever was laying around.

That's when Loki starts to feel that sense of caution and dread in his stomach that they might not make it if either one of them messes up.

When the smell of the beast and whatever carcass that the beast managed to catch was overpowering, Loki stopped Thor. "Do we have some sort of idea of what we'll be doing when attacking or are we just going in there blind?"

Loki hoped that his brother wouldn't dare suggest Get Help for their attack.

"I attack and you aid me where needed." Thor said, more gleeful than Loki liked in these adventures. Still, he nodded in agreement, knowing this type of planning would work better in the end for him.

With that Thor rushed towards the mouth of the cave, finally using Mjolnir to get him there quicker. Loki followed along at a much slower pace with no visible weapon in his hands. He watched as his brother went right into the cave and started to shout and wave Mjolnir around to get the beast to come out. If it weren't such an effective tactic, Loki would have teased his brother until their death about how foolish he looked when doing so.

As he approached the cave, he heard the first set of growls coming from the beast, warning away those who dared to come so close. When he was a few feet away from the entrance, it suddenly emerged.

Thor, more gleeful than what was called for, went chasing after the beast. The body was long, longer than both of them combined and probably longer than his entire family combined in height. It had a mixture of fur and scales covering its body as it rushed past Loki. When it came to a stop in the clearing its body circled it several times and it's head held high above the two of them. (Loki's best guess at what kind of creature this beast was, it looked like a dragon who had gotten too friendly with an animal with fur.)

There was a standstill at this point. Thor and the beast stared each other, daring the other to make the first move. For once his brother was waiting for the beast to make the first move.

Then with a move that was too quick for Loki to follow too closely, it went straight for Thor. His brother smiled as he finally moved to fight the beast. For a few moments, Loki watched as the two battled each other, delivering blows to each other that were meant to harm. Then quietly he pulled out another stick that he had hidden in his cloak.

There was no need to use any of his magic on it as it wouldn't need to last any longer than needed. From the corner of his eye, Loki watched the battle. He didn't need an accidental injury that could have been easily prevented (and he didn't want to hear Thor's whining on the way back to the village.) When a few sparks lite up the stick that's when he shifted to his other part of the plan.

Using a bit of magic, he murmured a spell that he had used many times before in battles like these and pranks that he played on others. As easy as taking a breath in, Loki felt his double leave his body. There wasn't even an exchanging of words between the two of them, the double heading into battle to aid his brother.

Quickly he slipped away, heading into the cave itself.

As the light pooled in the dark space, Loki took in the sight of it. The beast clearly didn't have a mate of any sort as much of it was covered in fur and scales that fell of its body along with any remains of carcasses that it dragged in here. Which meant the smell was almost unbearable.

As best as he could, Loki looked over parts of the cave where the stone could be. The book while giving a definite that it would in a cave with this beast, it gave a vague description of where he would find it. There was a sharp bit of pain every now and then, his double being a dealt a hit of some sort as the battle continued.

The deeper he went into the cave, the worse the smell became. He had to hold up a hand with part of the cloak over it to keep himself from gagging over the horrible and overpowering smell. He didn't need to give away to the beast that he was in its lair. (Nor give away to Thor that he wasn't battling with him.)

As he moved the light over an area, something glimmered in the corner of his eye. Taking a moment to turn his body towards the glimmer, Loki had to smile to himself. Finally, he had found what he was looking for.

Even with the disgusting smell coming back as he reached for the stone, he couldn't stop the feeling of victory wash over him. The stone was a small blue thing with a light shine to it that depending on where the light was positioned would make it appear a darker blue or a light purple. It was also surrounded by bones of varying sizes that were encrusted with a substance that he would rather not think about.

As he dug into the surrounding mysterious substance and bones, he felt one large, sharp pain on his torso, right below his ribcage. He felt a bit of his magic disappear and he knew that his double had been taken out by the beast. With a sigh of annoyance, Loki dug even more to retrieve the stone.

When he felt that he could take the stone out, he wrapped his hand around it. Then he pulled up.

The mysterious substance clung around the majority of the stone, but mostly it remained unharmed. Then he placed it into a bag that he had brought along with him. Loki then used a bit of his magic to make it disappear, so that Thor wouldn't ask him what it was. It would be dangerous for his brother to be curious about such a thing as it meant that their father would find out. It would mean putting a stop to what Loki was trying to do.

It meant being unable to visit father's study even with him watching Loki.

When it was secured at his waist, he exited the cave. He came to the scene of his brother being held down by one of the beast's limbs and looking smug enough to watch its prey squirm without going for the killing blow. As he rolled his eyes, Loki reached for his daggers with a flair that his brother would say isn't something a warrior should do.

He threw one of the daggers towards the beast limb that was holding his brother down and the other towards its face. There was deep growl when the one dagger dug itself into the limb and then annoyance when it knocked the other away.

Thor rolled away and got back up on his feet. Mjolnir returning to his hand and once more set off to defeat the beast. With annoyance, Loki picked up the dagger that didn't embed itself into the beast and waited for the moment when he would need to throw it again.

There wasn't much to his role other than taking well-aimed hits towards the beast and making sure that Thor didn't injure or kill himself. Sometimes there were moments when the two of them needed to coordinate an attack and for a few moments, he felt important and dear enough to Thor to actually feel glad that they were doing this together.

All good things come to an end, he supposed, as Thor used a well aimed hit with Mjolnir at the beast's head. There was the odd movement of its neck snapping and then the thundering sound if it falling towards the ground. The ground shook for a few moments and then everything went back to normal.

Loki looked up to see his brother standing on the beast's body, looking beyond proud. Loki rolled his eyes at this, wondering where the blond got such confidence to act as he did it himself.

He helped with cutting off the head, of course. It didn't take much, it was a skill that they had plenty of practice doing since Thor loved to fight beasts of varying sizes. Loki wondered if he got a rush from nearly dying from each encounter or if it was because it was a challenge that only he felt he could do.

It would remain a mystery as he helped Thor drag the head back to the village. For reasons unknown to him, travelling back towards the village felt much quicker than travelling away from it for this adventure. When arriving, the children made a huge fuss over seeing the head and the grown-ups looked appreciative at it finally being dead.

Then the celebration started. Loki watched as the sky darken and the village being draped in shadows and flickering lights as fires were started and maintained. He stayed around long enough for a few people to ask for his name and story of how it happened to create a song about him. Then as quietly as he could, he snuck off back to their room. He knew when was wanted and when he wasn't.

* * *

A few days after returning and being scolded by his father over disappearing as they did, Loki made his towards the study. He knew that his father wouldn't be there for the day since he went off to negotiate or something similar to that with one of the realms. In fact, he wouldn't be there for a week at least from the way he had phrased it at breakfast today.

Still, he quietly slipped into the room knowing that one of the servants might be nearby to catch him. The mirror was in the same corner, still being covered up with the white sheet. Loki grabbed all the ingredients that were required for the spell before setting it up in front of the mirror.

Then he pulled the sheet off.

The same image of the room greeted him, the early morning light catching on everything that made him hold his breath for a few long moments. When coming back to his senses, he noticed the mysterious person laying across the light and delicate stone desk. The rise and fall of their back told him that they were in fact asleep.

He watched them sleep, not hurried by time or by his father sneaking up on him. Loki knew that for whatever reason they were in the mirror, it was extreme enough for his father to personally guard over the being's prison. So it would stand to reason that it would be good to gather up some knowledge about them.

Then in silence, his mysterious person started to wake up. He noticed that the person had horns upon the top of their head (which he had failed to notice last time.). The indigo hue of their skin caught in the ever-growing morning light as they stretched and looked over his way. His heart stopped for a moment or two, still expecting to see the glowing red eyes that he was told about from his mother about the Jötnar.

When they came closer to the mirror, he noticed the dark blue sclera and the golden pupils that he relaxed. Loki also noticed that the mysterious person's hair was a bit messy from sleeping, a few strands tangled into each other. He winced in quiet solidarity of what would probably be a painful time to get the knots out. (He spent too much time in the mirror some mornings trying to get the knots out while cursing himself from the night before for not brushing at all.)

Then they were right in front of him, somehow assembling all that was needed for the spell without Loki noticing. They looked down at him expectantly as they raised the goblet in the air.

Loki followed along with the silent instructions, doing his best to follow how the person in front of was doing it. The first thing to do was to stitch a rune into the fabric he had gotten when visiting with his mother a day earlier. While most expected that the young princes weren't expected to sew, his mother and father insisted on it. '_Servants will not always be with you on the battlefield or any of the adventures that you will go on. What will happen to your tattered clothes if you do not mend them?'_

It wasn't an unfamiliar task and didn't take long for him to finish up. As looked at the rune, he wondered where he had seen it before. He doubts that his father or any of the tutors would have taught him that, so it must be part of the books that he often snuck during the night. When he held it up for the person to look over, Loki felt extreme pride at seeing them approve of it.

They then moved their hands to recreate the rune in the air in front of them. It glowed purple for a few seconds before fading away. But he saw both pieces of clothing glow a light golden colour after that happened.

Then the both of them moved onto cracking the stone in two and crushing the crystallized part of it into dust. Loki watched as they poured the power into the goblet and how a thin bit of blue mist rose from it. Once more he followed, pouring the powder into the goblet as well.

He watched as the mysterious person drank the goblet. Loki didn't even give it a second thought as he drank most of the liquid from his goblet as well.

Then they held up a knife and held it near their hand. He saw the surprised look on their face when he brought out one of his daggers with the usual flair he loved using and pressed it into his hand (but didn't press hard enough to draw blood. He still needed to know what they were going to do with their blood.)

They quickly got over their surprise and press their blade into his hand. Dark drops of blood felt into their goblet and Loki did the same. Quickly, he used a spell to close the wound. He watched as the thin blue mist turned into light purple colour. Then the colour of the liquid start to swirl between the light purple and red colour of his blood.

He looked back up towards the mysterious stranger to see them open up their mouth for something to crawl out of it. While there were many different methods for spells to be completed, this way was stranger than ones Loki read from the books, both forbidden and approved.

He watched as it crawled onto the stranger's hand and then into the goblet. There was a faint red glow and then he saw his goblet of swirling liquid disappeared to have the thing appear at the bottom of it. It looked similar to the bugs he and Thor used to catch when they were younger and were only permitted to stay in the palace's gardens.

Without hesitation, he lifted his hand for it to crawl upon. It went on its merry way on his body until it reached his the shell of his ear.

Then he heard a deep and smooth voice speak into his ear.

"_**Speak.**_"

Loki almost fell over backwards from how the voice didn't match up with the image of the stranger in front of him. It sounded too deep for the body that they had. He expected a bit of a higher voice if he was to be completely honest.

"Who _are _you?" Loki demanded. Then to add after a moment's thought, "What realm are you from?"

"_**My name would mean nothing to you, human. As for what realm I'm from, I have no clue what you're referring to**_." The mysterious stranger said, their voice still something that was throwing him through a loop.

"I would still like to have a name to call you when talking to you. And I'm not a Midgardian, you oaf. I'm Asgardian." The biting tone of his voice made it well clear that he wasn't going to be lead around by the stranger. He wanted answers and he wanted them _now_.

"_**A mistake on my part for misidentifying what you are**_." There was a smile that looked close enough to a smirk if one wasn't looking too closely. Almost like they were amused. "_**It would be in your best favour, child, that you don't use insults from this point on**_."

With a roll of his eyes, he said back "It's obvious that I'm not human. No human has enough magic to go through with this. Now give me your name."

An odd look crossed the stranger's face. Loki waited impatiently as they looked down at the table in front of them and then back up. "_**It is Aaravos. What is your name, child?**_"

"I am Prince Loki Odinson of Asgard. Where do you hail from, Aaravos?"

"_**I hail from a land called Xadia. However, I've never heard of Asgard. Is it land across the ocean?"**_

"No, Asgard has no other land surrounding it other than itself," Loki said. He felt a bit confused, not quite sure what Aaravos was talking about, "The rest of the kingdom comes from the other realms that were taken under my father's rule, long before I was born. I've never heard of Xadia in any of my studies nor from any books that I've read through."

"_**Curious,**_" Aaravos said softly, "_**it appears that the mirror has been given to someone who would watch over me more carefully than they could."**_

"Not careful enough if I can get past them and speak to you."

There was a playful smirk on Aaravos's face as he stared down at Loki. His golden eyes held knowledge that Loki knew he wouldn't be able to get. At least not unless he became more skilled in magic and his fighting. (Loki had seen his mother pry information out of a prisoner with only the touch of fingertips when spying on her once. It looked harmless, even gentle to those who were only looking at it. but he knew that taking information as she did hurt so much, brought so much pain from a person's life.)

"_**Nothing can keep a person captured forever Loki. Especially those who are clever enough.**_"

"And have you escaped Aaravos?" Loki knew it was a stupid thing to ask, but his mouth moved before he could stop himself.

"_**I was close once. But the person meant to free me was captured because of his own mistakes**_." Aaravos said, his eyes looking up. There were a few moments where they were glazed over as if he was suddenly locked into that memory without much of a way out. "_**He was a foolish attempt to get back to a life outside of the mirror.**_"

"Then why attempt to get out if he was a risk? There must have been someone else who has less of a chance of being caught."

A sigh. "_**Being trapped in here doesn't give one a way to stimulate the mind like it should or offer ways of escaping, child. Sometimes you must take the best thing that is offered and try to make it work.**_"

Loki huffed in annoyance, not understanding why Aaravos couldn't wait for a better way to escape. But he didn't voice this opinion knowing it would only cause an argument that would never end. "He doesn't sound like the smartest person to try and ally yourself with anyway if he got captured so easily."

"_**He had his strengths Loki**_," Aaravos said with a chiding tone, moving a hand up towards the glass of the mirror. Loki noticed for the first time that he had four fingers instead of five, "_**however there were weaknesses of his that I should have accounted for when talking to him. A lesson for the next time.**_"

As he was about to answer back, Loki heard a thudding sound outside the study. Accompanying it was the sound of giggling and the poor attempts from a small group trying to keep each other quiet. He rolled his eyes at Thor's friends and used the invisibility spell on himself. Wherever they went, a few servants were bound to follow behind to make sure the palace was in order for when the Allfather returned back from his trip

Loki looked over at the mirror to see the curious face of Aaravos peering through. Quickly he put the sheet back over the mirror and then took a few steps away. The echoing clatter of the group passed by the door. Then came the softer sounds of the servants checking everything over.

One of them opened the door to check that nothing big was out of place. She furrowed her brow as she walked over to the mirror. Loki tensed for a few moments, hoping that she won't pull the sheet off.

She smoothed part of the sheet and then walked out of the room. Loki stood still, waiting for the sound of her and the other servants' footsteps to follow after Thor and his group of friends. It was a painful few minutes and he could feel the strain of his magic trying to keep up the spell he had cast after what everything that happened with Aaravos.

When the last of the footsteps didn't sound for a while, he went over to the mirror to pull off the sheet. He saw that Aaravos had pulled the chair from the stone desk over and was reading a book in front of it with a look of concentration. "Aaravos?" He asked tentatively.

"_**Loki?**_" Aaravos asked in return as he looked up. He peered once more through the mirror, his eyes searching around the room. "_**Where are you?**_"

"Oh, I'm sorry." He replied, making himself visible.

"_**Where did you learn such a spell?**_"

"My mother taught it to me when I was younger and started to learn magic. I fear she doesn't know that I use it for instances like that among other things that I know she suspects me of, but doesn't have a definitive proof for."

Slowly a grin spread over Aaravos's face. "_**I see. You like playing tricks, don't you?**_"

"Since you won't be able to tell anyone, yes, I do." Loki admitted, feeling a bit of pride swell up.

"_**Harmless or with a cruel edge to make the person learn their lesson?**_"

"Usually harmless. But when I happen to be in the right mood they can be played as something for them to learn from."

"_**A young trickster,**_" Aaravos said, his voice holding amusement in its tone. "_**And it would appear that you've yet learned all that you would need to be a great one.**_"

Loki tilted his head at that. "My title as a prince isn't the only thing that was bestowed on me at birth. I am the God of Mischief as well."

He watched as Aaravos's eyes grew wide for a few moments. Then he smoothed his expression into a calm exterior when he noticed that was Loki looking at him. "_**How about I propose an offer to you?**_"

"What would I get in return?" Loki backed up a step or two from the mirror.

"_**I would offer knowledge in magic that your realm does not have and teach you how to use it.**_"

"Anything more than that?"

Aaravos thought for a moment. "_**I can also offer aid for a future cause you might have as Asgard's king**__._"

"What would I have to do for you to earn your side of the offer?" Loki asked, still watching Aaravos. He knew that getting either of those things wouldn't come with a low cost, but he would be willing to do a lot to get a leg up on Thor.

"_**Do something that the last person wasn't able to do for me. Help me escape from this mirror**__._"

It was Loki's turn to widen his eyes. He saw the way Aaravos smiled like he knew that he had him cornered. Loki turned over the possibilities that agreeing with the offer could bring him. Turned over the possibilities that would come from disagreeing.

He turned away the mirror and went to sit at his father's desk. This required time and he didn't need Aaravos trying to sway his decision. The pile of books that were on the desk proved to be a good way to block his view of the mirror.

The afternoon light from the sun started to shift towards the early evening when he came to a decision. Looking over the books, Loki saw that Aaravos was still sitting in front of the mirror, reading a book. Quietly he walked over the mirror. Then cleared his throat to catch Aaavos's attention.

Aaravos only startled a little, but gain back his composure quickly. "_**Have you made a decision, Loki?**_"

"Yes," He answered, "I want to help you get out of the mirror."

"_**Then let's start by doing this.**_" Aaravos moved the book up so that he could read it. Loki moved closer to the glass to see the writing that was small and almost unreadable by whoever wrote it.

When he read through the section, Loki nodded in agreement for what needed to done. He followed Aaravos's instructions again, this time with comments that helped guide him on what to do better. As everything for the spell came together, Loki took small peeks at how Aaravos worked on the other side of the mirror, wondering what race he was. Not Jötnar and not Asgardian either. Definitely not one of the Midgardians from what his father told him. Was too small to be one of the dwarfs.

Could he be one of the many races of elves? It was a possibility since even with the known Nine Realms there were many races that were still not known to him. There's only so much that people can document when travelling around.

Still, that didn't feel right either in Loki's mind. It was like Aaravos was a result of one of the races of elves getting together with a Jötunn. But then again, he mentioned that he never heard of Asgard which all the realms knew about.

Who was Aaravos and why must he be trapped in a mirror?

As Loki lifted the dagger to his hand again, he watched Aaravos. For anything that would give him the signal to just suddenly turn his back on this. Something wasn't sitting right in his mind about this, but he couldn't put a reason to why. There always needed to be a reason why.

Aaravos smiled brightly as he cut his hand once more. The dull colour of the blue blood dripped onto the cloth with another rune sewn onto it. Loki followed as well and watched his blood dripped down. He couldn't look up as Aaravos recreated the rune in the air, the light from it somehow making its way through the mirror. All he could do was watch his cloth.

To keep himself from backing out something that might possibly go wrong.

He could feel his magic reacting to the spell. It seemed to move inside him like a sea at the beginnings of a storm, lapping at the shore with the warning of something to come. Minutes passed him by before he looked back up at the mirror. Aaravos watched him with curiosity and gave Loki a reassuring smile that didn't dispel the uneasy feeling in his mind.

When rolling up his sleeve, Loki saw the beginnings of dark blue crawling up his skin. The only thing that flashed through his mind was '_A __Jötunn after all.'_

He began to scream, unsure of what he should do in this situation. Somehow Aaravos had touched him and had caused his skin to start to turn that colour. He remembered his father's words that if any of the Jötnar touched their skin that it would blacken and no amount of magic would be able to save it.

From what little he could concentrate on besides screaming, he saw the way Aaravos looked startled. He could see the way his mouth moved, but no words could be heard. Maybe the bug fell from his ear, maybe Loki was screaming so loud that nothing could penetrate the sound.

Vaguely he could hear the footsteps of the servants rushing into the room. There was also the feeling of his mother's touch that he could never mistake for another. Looking into her eyes, Loki saw the concern and worry mixed in with the determination that only she could have in tough situations.

With a gentle touch of her fingers, she pressed them to his forehead. He knew what she was going to do and he welcomed it. Whatever would save his arm from being taken by a Jötunn's touch_._

He felt her magic move through his body, touching his magic for a few moments before pulling back. He must have stopped screaming at this point as he felt himself whimper at the lost contact that his mother's magic had created.

"It'll be fine, my son." He heard her say. Her touch grounding him enough to stop him from giving another round of screaming.

"_**Loki?**_ _Loki_!" Came Aaravos's voice through the haze in his mind. He only looked over where the Jötunn, looking more worried than he had any right to be.

"_**What has happened?**_" Came the demanding tone. Aaravos's golden eyes contradicted this with the worry that was in them. "_**What caused such a reaction?**_"

"You caused this Aaravos. You've melded in something that _you_ had _no_ right to do or know about." His mother said, following Loki's line of vision. He could see the way her body was tensed, as if ready to break the glass of the mirror to fight against the Jötunn to keep him safe.

With a movement of her hand and a few words, the white sheet returned over the mirror. Then she plucked the bug that had clung to the shell of his ear and handed it to one of the servants. Her words were muddled as Loki felt his mind and body suddenly feel tired. Much more tired than he's ever felt in his life.

"Sleep, my son." And that's what he did.

* * *

I had a lot of fun writing it. Especially Loki as a kid, who I've placed around eleven in human years in this. He's kinda bratty, kinda sneaky because who else would he be at that age? But I mostly had a lot of fun writing Loki like this because I haven't gotten a chance to write Kid Loki yet, despite loving that version of him in the comics and wanting to explore what Loki as a kid would be like in MCU.

But the other fun part of writing this was the mini-adventure Loki took with Thor to gain an ingredient to perform the spell that Aaravos did with Viren in TDP. (It also stemmed a bit from a post on Tumblr just question where the hell Viren got that rock to do the spell lol.)  
Also, Aaravos just trying to talk to Kid Loki was a blast to do since Loki is kinda like a kitten trying to appear as threatening during that whole thing lol.

It did kinda pain me to write the last bit where Loki just absolutely freaked out at his skin changing from his Aesir skin to his Jotun. He did grow up hearing stories about the Frost Giants and still being around eleven makes it easier for him to be scared of the monsters that Odin and Frigga told him about. Poor kid just doesn't understand what's happening to him :(

Please tell me if I need to add any tags because I will. Hard to trap what I want to tag when uploading it.  
Anyway, I hope this chapter was fun to read! :D


	2. Chapter 2 What is Real and What is Fake

He opened his eyes to see the Warrior Three standing a good distance away from the throne. The golden floors behind them were muddied by footprints and Loki knew he would have to get one of the servants to clean it up once they left his sight. A small bit of annoyance forced him to close his eyes again, to take a deep breath.

He sometimes wondered why those three could never look over themselves. Why they always seemed to inconvenience him at the worst of times.

"Why have you come to see me now?" He asked, getting up from the throne. As he took the few steps down he watched as Sif shared a look with Hogan and Fandral.

"We come to you to ask if you can check in on Thor since the Allfather has fallen into Odinsleep," Hogan spoke up. He took a step towards Loki, looking every bit as worried for Thor's well being as a close friend was supposed to be. "We also ask you if you could perhaps lift his punishment as well."

Ah, there was the deception that was hidden in all three of them. If Thor were to come back, he would be able to take the throne away from Loki as it was his give right as the eldest child of the two of them. It wouldn't matter that he had beenBifrost only appeared longer, but it didn't mean that time would stretch along with that assumption as well. The door to the observatory was open to all who needed to travel the Bifrost to a different realm. As long as they also expected the stare of the Gatekeeper, Heimdall with his golden eyes, lighter than any piece of gold that they would ever see.

Loki walked to Heimdall, knowing that the other knew that he was here. "I must go check on Thor."

"Is that all?" Heimdall shifted his gaze from the cosmos of the universe to Loki. His eyes still unnerved Loki, even all these years later after childhood. They almost seemed to accurately guess at what the younger Asgardian might be up to, even if he knew nothing of what was going on in Loki's mind at the moment.

"Yes, that will be all, Heimdall. The Warrior Three requested me to do so since father is in Odinsleep."

Heimdall didn't speak a word as he went towards the platform that held his sword. Loki moved into the center of where the Bifrost would be pointed, waiting for when the gatekeeper to turn the sword. He watched as Heimdall smoothly move the sword to turn, hearing the familiar hum of the magic and machines working together to start.

It didn't take long for Loki to feel the rush of magic sweep over him. The colours that he saw gleaming earlier in the bridge surrounded him, the colours brighter and more vibrant than everyone could ever imagine them. Then he felt himself moving through the Bifrost, heading towards Midgard.

* * *

The landing was uneventful. Loki looked down to see the ground was imprinted with the crest of the Odinson family. He felt his lips curl at the thought of his father, at the thought of remembering the man at all. Forcing his gaze away from the ground, away from the crest, he looked around at his surroundings.

There was no light, only the darkness of night. However, it made spotting where Thor could possibly be a lot easier since in the distance there was a mass of something white with unnaturally bright lights in a crater that only Mjolnir could create when falling down to the realm. Using the invisibility spell, Loki set forth to find his brother.

There were many Midgardians guarding the white structure, unaware of his presence as he snuck past most of them. There were several that seemed to be more in tune with what was unseen than the others. A spark of mischief entered his mind as he went by one of those Midgardians once more. It didn't take much energy to set up a few pranks around the structure nor did it take any of the Midgardians to set them off either. With the confused shouts of attracting other Midgardians, Loki went to go find Thor.

There were many halls and many rooms to search through. As he exited another room without seeing a trace of his brother, Loki heard murmurs coming from one end of the hall. Looking that way, he saw two Midgardians walking towards him. He waited until they pass by to follow after them. If he wasn't going to find his brother through one way, he might as well use another.

He leaned in as close he could get without setting off that he was there to hear their conversation.

"Still not getting any answers from him. You'd think that someone who was able to get past Hawkeye and fight off a bunch of us to only get caught for a hammer that can be lifted would be easy to get talking."

"Well, I'm betting it's not human. Didn't seem to understand anything when Coulson got him into custody."

"There's that, but why don't they ever just make it easy for us?"

"Then where would the fun be in the job? Or the gossip for that matter Jill."

"You're right." A sigh from the one complaining about Thor stubbornness. "It would still be nice to have an easy day once in a while. Especially since he's nice to look at."

"Right, Jill. That's what security entails, making sure that getting answers from the intruder is also available for a date."

"Not the point Chris. Besides, I saw you looking him up and down like I was at the beginning of the shift." There was an embarrassed cough from Chris and Loki could tell that Jill was smirking. "Let's just check on him one last time before our shift ends."

The two continued to talk, drifting to other topics. Loki, however, focused on what he would do once finding his brother.

It was clear that the blond oaf managed to get himself captured. Probably after trying desperately to get Mjolnir back. Which also means that Odin's banishment was still in effect if Thor still couldn't lift. So either he gives his brother a way to escape once they finished speaking to each other or let him figure it out on his own.

The two Midgardians lead him to a room that held Thor. It was the barest room he's ever seen in his life. There were only a bed and a chair and nothing on the white walls to provide comfort. Even with the prison cells that Asgard had given more a bit more comfort than this to their prisoners.

Loki slipped past the Midgardians and their technologies, he was in the horrible room to see Thor slumped in the chair. It was rare to see his brother this disheartening. He was usually so full of energy and some kind of motivation to do something, even if it was a playful brawl with Loki or his friends.

Looking around the room, he spotted things that were meant to keep an eye on Thor. With a simple spell, he was able to appear to his brother without any interference from the others. It didn't take Thor long to see him. He was probably the most colourful thing in this room.

"Loki?" Thor looking briefly confused, then looked beyond happy that he was here. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see how your banishment was going." Loki took the nonchalant approach to this. Didn't need to give everything away all at once after all.

"Have you found a way to lift this punishment?"

"No. not yet brother. You know as well as I do that lifting father's punishment takes more time to figure out then mother's. And more of my energy." He said, taking a step towards Thor.

"Never stopped you before brother."

"Not the point now Thor. Right now the question is why you're being held captive by the Madgardians when you and I know you can easily escape."

There came the same sad look as before. "I was trying to get Mjolnir back. Tried to lift it and despite my best efforts, couldn't do it. It seems that I'm still not worthy of it."

"Still doesn't give me an explanation of why you're still here."

"Loki, do not push it," Thor said, his tone annoyed. Loki watched his brother slumped even more onto the chair. It was a sad sight to witness if he were to be honest with himself.

"Fine." He said, "If you aren't willing to talk about it, I'll inform you that father has fallen into Odinsleep."

That caused Thor to sit up straighter in the chair. "What do you mean brother? How did that happen?"

Memories of what their father said to him after Loki touched the Casket of Ancient Winter, touched a relic of the Jötnar. That he was a Frost Giant himself, taken as a babe from Jotunheim, to be used in a treaty with the Jötnar since he was the runty son of Laufey. Made to fear what he was since a young child because Odin never spoke the truth about who he was.

"I'm the monster that parents tell their children about at night. It all makes sense now. Why you favoured Thor all these years. Because no matter how much you claim to love me, you could never have a Frost Giant sitting on the throne of Asgard!"

"It seems that recent events have caused him to go into Odinsleep. Mother stays by his side as he continues to stay in that state. It has fallen to me to rule Asgard." He explained, avoiding all the turmoil that he knew Thor could never understand.

"So you would be able to lift my punishment?" Came Thor's hopeful voice.

"It's not that simple. I've already explained why I can't do that now." Emotions crashed into each other, rushing to be the first one to escape and break his facade."I can't bring you back when you're still facing your punishment."

"They won't care about that Loki. I'm sure they'll be glad that I've returned."

"And that's a problem for me. They'll want you on the throne, not me. They'll be happy that I won't be ruling over them anymore since the golden child will return to save them. To save them from the monster. They would rather have a would be murder on their throne rather than a monster."

Loki noticed that the tips of his fingers were starting to turn blue. The same dreaded blue that he saw just only a few days ago. That told him of what he truly was instead of the pink skin he had known all his life.

He didn't stay to hear any more from Thor. He simply turned around and made his way out of the room. Out of the hall and out of the structure. (Later he'll vaguely recall Thor chasing after him and being met with the solid glass door when Loki went through it using his magic.)

The realm was still dark, but it welcomed him all the same. When far enough away, he called up to Heimdall to bring him back. The familiar feeling of the Bifrost swept over him and lifted him through the many miles that laid between Midgard and Asgard.

Then once more he was in the observatory.

Heimdall barely looked at him as he walked past. Even Loki barely took notice of himself, wanting to crush down the emotions that were crashing into each other, to get ahold of himself. He was a ruler now, he would not look weak in front of those who looked up to him.

The scenery passed him by as he rushed through the Palace. Servants got out of his way, cowering from what must have been a horrible sight. But he continued to the one place in the whole Palace that he knew he could hide out to rid through this burst of emotions.

Odin's study.

As much of a hurry as he was to get there, Loki did take a few moments to stand in front of the door. It didn't change from the days of being a boy other than it grew smaller and smaller as he grew taller and taller. Placing a hand on the panels of the wood, he was frustrated to see that his hand was still trying to turn blue. And that from that hand was a light layer of frost spreading over the door.

With that, Loki went into the room. As he roughly pushed the door to close, a bit satisfied to hear the slam that it caused, he turned to look over the room. The light was transitioning from late afternoon to early evening, making the shadows of the room more noticeable than what he remembered in his memories.

He used a bit of his magic to light the candles. The flickering lights of the many candles made the study appear more homely, more like someone who came here in the middle of the night to read over their books and notes. It also made the growing mass of shadows disappear.

There was also a thin layer of dust over everything as well. None of the servants were going to touch the room as many worried over the Allfather. Loki went over to the desk to see the papers and books that his father was looking over before everything. The familiar sight of his father's writing, the notes he took down from whatever book he was reading made a mix of emotions twist into each other. What won out, in the end, was a flurry of anger as he grabbed the papers, crumbling and turning to frost in his hands and threw them away.

They didn't land far as they are papers, floating down from the air to the floor. It wasn't enough. Loki grabbed at the books on the desk and threw them as well. It as a bit more satisfying to hear the loud thud of the books that crashed to the floor. He didn't stop until every single one was on the floor. Panting lightly, he looked around the room.

What his eyes landed on at last was a white sheet covering something in one corner of the room.

Quickly he rushed over to it, pulling the sheet off to see what was underneath. What he saw was a golden mirror of a simple design with only his reflection staring back at him. Loki could see that parts of his face were turning to that dreaded shade of blue. He could also see that in parts that managed to turn blue, there were engravings in his skin.

A part of him wanted to touch the engravings, to see what they felt like and to study them, another part of him was angry that he couldn't control it. That it was taking over. That everyone would soon know how much of monster he was. That this would be their proof of why he shouldn't be the ruler of Asgard.

With another burst of anger coursing through him, he moved to hit the glass of the mirror. There was the sound of his fist hitting the glass and the mirror teetering back and forth on its thin legs from the impact of the hit. But no cracks formed where Loki had punched it.

This made him pause for a moment. While he had expected it to be a normal mirror and break, it seems that his father was keeping a magical mirror in his study for many years. Then why didn't he remember it?

A flittering memory came to mind as that questioned echoed, unanswered. Quietly he gathered ingredients from the study. As he recreated the powder from a forgotten memory, he wondered why he couldn't remember his father having a magical mirror. He had been in the study so many times in his childhood, knew every possible way to sneak in without his father knowing.

Loki also knew every magical item that was stored in there. Knew that they were in there to be kept away from mages who would use those items for things that would threaten the Nine Realms. Why couldn't he cite any memory involving the mirror in front of him?

Even if it was a simple design, it still wasn't made by any craftsmanship that he had seen from the Nine Realms. Even from Midgard with how little he had visited it. The symbols that decorated the frame of it was also unfamiliar to him. Loki paused in crushing up a root to reach over and touch the symbols. The golden was smooth underneath his fingers, almost as if it was forged from the dwarfs' themselves. The only difference that he could tell between this and the work that came from the dwarfs was the way the symbols were carved. The little valleys in the symbols were a bit jagged at the side as if created with something other the smooth edge of a tool.

Loki went back to creating the powder for the spell. When done, he put it around the outer edge where the glass met the frame. Then repeated the spell that he remembered from his foggy memory. As he spoke the words, there was a gentle white glow where he placed the power. It was a sight that Loki felt he had seen before. Where he had seen it before was a mystery to him still.

As the glow grew brighter, his mind spun to figure out why it all felt so familiar. Why he knew for a fact that this exact scene had happened before. But his mind couldn't quite grasp the memory that had the proof.

Finally, the glow was too bright for him and he had to close his eyes. The second it stopped he opened them once more. The sight that greeted him was a room very different from anything in the Palace. (But he had seen when travelling to Niflheim some time ago.)

The light was low, even with the fire going in the fireplace. Still, Loki felt he had seen all of this before, his mind still not grasping the when and where.

He spotted someone in the room, reading a book by the window shaped like a half moon. The light that was coming through the window must have provided enough for reading or they preferred to read there instead of at the desk. They had long white hair that reached down near their waist, a little messy from sitting against a wall for some time. There was a set of horns that curved and had several points on it that looked dangerous enough to use like a stag if they wished to do so.

The most surprising thing was the colour of their skin. While not quite the dark shade of blue of the Jötnar, it was close enough of a colour for Loki to think that it might be a few generations with a Jötunn or two having children with races that had come to Jotunheim before the Jötnar tried to take over Midgard. There was the speckles of white that dotted the skin of their arm, gathered closer as Loki followed them up the stranger's arm.

The stranger flipped a page, engrossed with what they were reading. Loki couldn't look away, wondering why such a person was trapped in the mirror. Then they looked up from their book and over at the mirror. The fire grew brighter and the stranger rushed over to the mirror with less grace than Loki was expecting. However what unnerved him was the look of familiarity on their face, in their golden irises.

He would have remembered someone this beautiful. That he knew without a doubt.

They stood in front of the mirror, looking at Loki with excitement. The lighting around them had grown enough for Loki to see other parts of the room. It was more beautiful than many of the buildings and rooms he saw on Niflheim (with exception of the throne room with Queen Freya taking command of the room of course.)

As they moved a hand towards one of their pointed ears, Loki took notice of the four fingers rather than five. As they keep lightly hitting the ear, Loki spoke up. "Who are you? What are you doing in this mirror?"

The few moments of surprise and disappointment on the other's face was such a difference from the excitement and familiarity from before. Then it lead to a calm facade as they stared at him with sudden understanding. "I'll ask again, who are you and what are you doing in the mirror?"

They pointed at their ear once more, staring at Loki to get the answer quickly. He rolled his eyes, knowing what the stranger was trying to convey.

"Of course you can't hear me. That would be too easy, now wouldn't it?"

The stranger had a bitter smirk on their face, most likely reading his lips. Loki took a step back, pressing his hands to his face. He couldn't see the surprised look on the stranger's face nor the concern. What he did notice when bringing them down was the way they were pointing passed him.

He followed where they were pointing, at one of the bookcases that were across the room. The books that were thrown earlier were stepped over as Loki tried to search through the shelves. There was something here that the stranger knew about and if he was guessing it would help with the lack of communication.

He came across a container that had several locks, both of magic and not, keeping the lid closed. There were runes on the side, some that he could read and some that he could not. Carefully, Loki lifted it from the shelf and brought it over to the mirror. The stranger only took a moment to look over the container before giving Loki a nod.

He placed in front of him and set to work figuring out each lock. The ones that were magical were far easier to unlock as he had seen and knew how to open them without ensnaring himself into the container. The ones without magic, however, were a bit tricker. Usually, with those kinds of locks, there was only one key or many that would come together to unlock it. It was to make sure that nobody but the one who held the key could get in.

Loki looked over those locks, studying the size and shape of each one. Then he drifted towards the desk. There were many spots that Odin had designed into the desk that Loki had eventually found over time. Each time he snuck into the study, he would search, hoping to find a different place he could hide a trinket from Thor.

Under the panelling near one of the legs, he found a key. In another spot that was next to one of the drawers were a series of keys. He repeatedly looked in every spot he knew of, grabbing keys that could open the locks.

After exhausting every spot, Loki returned back to the container. Then he set to work trying each lock with keys that looked like they could fit. Every once in a while, he could look up to see the stranger was watching him. Their golden eyes carefully watching Loki's hands, the way they moved and the slow crawl of the Jötunn skin over his Aesir.

That was almost as unnerving as the excitement that the stranger had before.

Loki slowly worked through the keys, getting some of the locks to come off. Others were still stubbornly there. With a sigh, he dropped the last key when it didn't fit. Loki went to search through the shelves, knowing a few places where his father might hide them.

Soon he came back to the container. All the keys he found, fit every last lock, except for one. Loki knew that there weren't any more keys in the room, checking every little hiding spot that Odin had. There wouldn't be any that were hidden from him, as he knew all of them like all the tunnels in the Palace and other ways of travelling to realms without the Bifrost.

Loki looked at the stranger, watched as they looked him in the eyes. They held up a hand, creating a rune in the air. They held up the other hand in front of them, underneath where the rune had been drawn. There was a soft glow from the drawn rune as it was given magic. Then a small bit of snow was falling on the hand, frosting over slightly when it made contact.

Loki stared at this display, wondering what the stranger was trying to tell him. As the frost started to spread from the hand to the stranger's wrist and arm, the idea suddenly came barreling at him. Looking down at his own hands, Loki knew what he had to try.

Raising a hand towards the lock, Loki turned his focus inwards, his eyes closing. As he felt the flow of his magic going from one place to another in his body, he searched for something else that he knew would feel different. Would be completely different from the magic that he knew so intimately.

There was a cool feeling as he found what he searched for. It spread a bit when Loki reached into, the same as he would his magic. As he opened his eyes, he saw that most of his arm had turned blue and that a small block of ice that formed in his hand. Using the skill that he had from moulding his magic for years, Loki soon had a key that would fit into the lock.

As he pressed it into the lock, he looked once more to the mysterious stranger. Their golden eyes sparkled along with a wide grin. Loki turned the key and found that it actually opened.

He put it along with the other locks and took the lid off. Peering into the container, Loki saw that it was a bug of some kind. It looked non-threatening to him, like the bugs that he and Thor would find in the gardens when they were younger. But for whatever reason, his father had locked it away in a container. Whether it was to study it or to keep away from prying eyes of even the royal family, Odin didn't want anyone to get it.

Loki saw that it started to move, crawling up the side. Once more he looked over at the stranger. They once more held up a hand to their ear and lightly flicked at it. Loki looked back at the bug and held a hand to it. It was eager to crawl onto his hand and continued its journey up his arm. It tickled slightly when it went up to his neck, the soft bristles that fanned at its side brushing his skin.

It finally stopped moving when it crawled to the shell of his ear. Then he heard a voice speak that seemingly came from nowhere. _**"Speak, Loki."**_

Loki whipped his head, trying to find the source of where the voice came from. There was a light chuckle, as deep and melodious as when the voice spoke. _**"Over here, Loki. In the mirror."**_

Turning to where the voice directed him, he saw the mysterious stranger grinning still.

"Who are you?" Loki demanded, unsure of what he was experiencing at the moment. "How do you know who I am?"

There was a quick moment that Loki could spot the sadness on the stranger's face. But as quickly as it came, it left just the same. _**"I am Aavaros. For how I know of your name, I'm afraid that's a secret I shouldn't give away."**_

"I do not care what secret that is, Aaravos," Loki spat out, annoyance getting the best of him. But it was better than feeling sorry for himself at this point. "Or who you're keeping that secret for. You know who I am and were happy to greet me like had met at one point. Do not play me for a fool."

_**"I would never play you for a fool, Loki."**_ The deep timber of Aaravos's voice held emotion that he couldn't identify.

"Then tell me." He hissed out.

_**"If you want answers for why I know you, ask your mother. She would have more knowledge than I do."**_

Loki glared at Aaravos, wondering why he wouldn't come out with the answers. He wouldn't be tricked or lied to about his past no more. "Why you're keeping a strong grip on such a secret is puzzling. Does it have to do with you being trapped in the mirror?"

_**"Perhaps. But playing around with words to get me to speak about the subject will not work."**_ Aaravos said. Loki rolled his eyes.

"Fine, keep your secret. A better question is why you're trapped in the mirror. I know it wasn't my father's doing, he didn't mention you nor did any of the books I've read talk about a person being trapped in a mirror. Many other things, yes, but not this specifically."

"I do not remember."

"You don't remember?" Loki asked incredulously.

_**"I've spent a long time in here, Loki,"**_ Aaravos said, sounding more somber than before. _**"Long enough that why I was put here has left my mind. Whatever I had done in Xadia must have warranted my entrapment."**_

"Xadia? Where is that?" Loki asked, curiosity starting to take hold of his mind.

_**"It is somewhere beyond your Nine Realms or so I've heard."**_ Aaravos said._**"But I'm sure you would like exploring it since magic has seeped into everything."**_

"How is that possible? Not even the realms that are known for magic have had that happen to them."

_**"I do not know the why, all I know is that there was magic in everything including the humans themselves if they tried hard enough."**_

Loki's mind raced at that. It sounded wonderous to be surrounded by magic like that. But there was one thing. "Midgardians were able to do magic on their own? How is that possible?"

_**"They are creatures like you or me. They just need a bit more guidance when it comes to doing magic on their own."** _Aaravos said. He sounded fond at that moment. Like he was speaking about personally helping the hapless beings himself.

"Yes, but they aren't capable of performing any level of magic that would be useful. Just little tricks to keep others amused."

Aaravos sighed. _**"They can do more than tricks, Loki. Or do you forget your title as the God of Mischief."**_

Loki could feel himself sneering. There were too many differences between himself and a Midgardian mage, not counting the short lives that they often lived to discount them. "I may play tricks, Aaravos, but I'm not like them. I am nothing like them."

"Are you saying that about humans? Or about whatever you hide away from your true heritage?"

The questions were simple, in fact, they had a simple answer of yes. But denial is often a fickle feeling, trying everything in its power to forget or change what is in front of a person's face. Loki turned his head away from the mirror, words that usually came easy to him suddenly gone.

He looked down at his arms that showed his true heritage.

As he lifted the sheet up from the floor he heard Aaravos speak up.

_**"What are you planning, Trickster?"** _His voice was almost stern with a hint of concern softening up the tone just a bit too much to make Loki truly afraid.

"Nothing you won't be able to help with." He replied as he put the sheet over the mirror. He could hear Aaravos demanding him to stop. But Loki pulled the bug from the shell of his ear, placing it back into the container. Carefully he locked it back up to the way it was before and put it back on the shelf.

Then he walked out of the room towards where he knew his mother would be.

It was well into the evening now, the hallways were lit with some candles for the servants to find their way. But he paid no attention to them as he followed the most direct path to the Allfather's room. The door to the room opened easily and he saw his mother sitting at his father's side, tending to him like any loving wife in her situation would.

She, however, would leave her post when seeing Loki the way he was. She stepped towards him, holding out a hand to comfort him until he held up his hand. He knew she wouldn't dare touch him while his blue skin showed, wanting to keep her limbs.

"Why don't we have a discussion, mother?" While posing as a question, they both knew that it wasn't. It was a demand.

"What would you like to discuss, my son?"

"I'm curious to know why a creature in the mirror in father's study knows my name. Why he says you would know why I can't remember meeting him before."

There was a quick moment of hesitancy from his mother as he spoke, her conflicting feelings present on her face. And Loki continued on. "Why does Aaravos know my name, mother? What has been done to my memories?"

A tired sigh escaped her. Loki watched as she positioned herself to the regal queen he saw from his childhood days of sneaking around from the troubled mother that stood before him. "Loki, you do not what your asking. The consequences of it all."

"I asked you a question, Mother. Now tell me."

"If that's what you want." She answered, her voice not wavering in the slightest. "You met the Xadian Elf when you were younger. You snuck into your father's study and found the mirror containing Aaravos. He was supposed to be kept away from everyone for the crimes he committed in his realm, to keep his voice from influencing others to do his bidding.

"But you found him and somehow found a way to communicate him despite the magic from his realm and ours that should have prevented that. I don't know what was discussed between the two of you, but it resulted in you attempting to do a blood bind with him."

She paused for a moment, her mask cracking from the regal queen. Instead, she showed worry that Loki only ever saw when either of her sons was harmed badly or scared beyond their wits. Something softened in him, wanting to provide her with the comfort that she had given them during those times. "Before either of you could perform the spell, your skin started to turn blue. Your screams could be heard from the throne room, echoing with shock and pain that only a child could have. When I finally reached you, all I could see was my son in pain and the cause was him, the Xadian Elf.

"I took the wretched tool he used to sway you and did the only thing that I could do at that moment to sooth you. I took away the memories of your skin turning into a Jötunn, to give your father and I more time to explain your heritage."

Suddenly the soft feeling disappeared. His mother knew what he was all along. Knew that he was a monster that was told to children, told to him as a child. Anger roiled inside him, wondering if her concern and love that she showed to him were ever real. "You knew?"

"Yes, my son, I knew. It didn't make me love you any less."

"And yet you told me stories about the Jötnar, how they were terrible monsters that would take any misbehaving child and eat them, use their skin to keep warm. Did you not think?!"

There was an ashamed look on her face, eyes showing the realization that never connected before in her mind. "Loki, that was a mistake on our part. Please forgi-"

"NO!" He shouted, sick of the excuses. Sick of the betrayal from every side. He had nowhere to go, no one to give him the comfort he desperately wanted.

"Loki, plea-"

He didn't give her a chance to talk any further. Once more he was forcing his emotions down as he ran from the room. The halls echoed with his thudding footsteps as he made his way back to the study. The door slammed with no regard for those working or sleeping nearby.

Once away from prying eyes, his emotions surfaced and exploded. Frost and ice covered the space close to him. Loki wouldn't even doubt that more of his skin had turned blue and for a quick moment he was fine with that. Then his anger welled up once more and caused even more of the room to be covered in frost and ice.

After the outburst, his eyes landed on the mirror that stood in the corner. A plan formed in his mind as he went towards it.

He unlocked the container, going by quicker than the last time. As he placed the bug on the shell of his ear, he stalked to the mirror. The sheet was pulled down and Loki spoke. "Aaravos?"

_**"Yes, Loki?"**_

"Would you like a way out of the mirror?"

The smirk that graced the elf's face was enough of an answer for Loki. He quickly searched his father's books, knowing there would be a solution or two in them. Time sped by him as Loki continued to look. Occasionally he would show Aaravos a possible solution and every time the elf would shake his head no.

It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that he was able to find something that Aaravos hadn't tried before. It would consist of using both of their blood along with some ingredients that Loki would have to use on his end to pull the elf through the mirror.

As he crushed up the petals of a flower and small chunks of flowers, he started to speak to the elf. "You didn't explain that you were an elf."

_**"Ah, you talked to your mother. Only she and Odin know what I truly am in your realm."**_ Aaravos said, sounding amused. _**"I'm assuming that elves look different where you're from."**_

"No, they don't look you. People would assume you're a mix of different races with the colour of your skin and how bright your hair is."

_**"What would you assume, Loki?"**_

"I had assumed you had Jötnar blood, a generation or two back where it would have been pure before they decided to have a child with one of the many elves."

A chuckle escaped the elf._** "I will have to study the many races your kingdom has. It all sounds fascinating."**_

Loki hummed his answer in return. He finished up part of the spell, putting all the crushed ingredients into the container. Then he poured a red liquid, watching as they mixed together. It glowed slightly as he stirred it, not quite done yet. As he did this, he continued to read from the book in front of him.

When it was stirred enough, Loki finally lifted his hand (the dark blue mocking him as he stared down at it) and pressed one of his daggers to draw blood. His blood dripped down into the container, turning it from a bright red to a dull shade of it. Then he stirred that, doing it quickly as the book instructed.

He knew it was ready when the liquid began to swirl on its own.

Loki put his hands into the liquid, cupping and then lifted it out of the container. He splashed it onto the glass of the mirror, watching it as it ran down the glass, looking like a murder had taken place. His whispered the words he needed to activate the glass to act as a doorway between whatever dimension was created to contain Aaravos and this one.

The glass started to ripple as he neared the end of the spell. He looked to see the excitement on Aaravos's face, that he could barely contain in the smile that appeared while Loki was staring into the liquid. He pressed a four-fingered hand to the glass, becoming gleeful when it reacted to his touch.

As the last word was spoken, Loki reached through the mirror to grab at the elf's hand. It didn't burn the elf as he had expected. But the magic that he felt moving through Aaravos's body was something he had never experienced.

He had seen his father perform magic, felt the power that the older Asgardian had cultivated from his live. His mother, powerful in her right, had felt her magic as well. Both of those combined was nothing of the power and experience that thrummed through Aaravos's magic.

It was a quick decision, almost no thought put into it. Almost like Thor if he were ever to speak about that moment.

As he pulled the elf's hand, Loki silently did a spell that he only read once from a book. It was a forbidden spell, only meant for cases when there was nothing else to consider. And Loki knew it wasn't one of those cases.

Loki saw the widening of Aaravos's eyes, the shock that spread across his face. He could feel himself smiling, wide and almost unhinged in what he had planned.

The magic drifted from the elf's body into his.

The effects were immediate as the new source of magic joined and flowed with his own. The power and experience that he could never hope to achieve by himself was thrilling as he continued to take more. All he could do was take more, more, more of the delicious magic that Aaravos had in his body.

He noticed the elf squirming, yelling and screaming at him to stop in that deep voice of his. It was blocked out by the high of the new magic, so easy to ignore when Loki knew he could take on the world like this.

He only let go when there wasn't much more for him to take. As the magic settled into his own, Loki finally noticed that Aaravos was sobbing on the other side of the mirror. He was curled onto himself, his skin losing the healthy glow that it had before. The white speckles that spread across his arms, chest and face also lost the glimmer as well.

The most surprising thing was when the elf looked up at him, how his face had sunken in so much. And yet it didn't take away from the hum and flow of the mixed magic.

"I guess you shouldn't trust the God of Mischief," Loki said softly as he closed the portal.

With what little strength Aaravos had left, he desperately banged his fists against the glass. Loki could also hear the quiet shouts, growing hoarse from yelling so much. The haunting image of a once strong mage reduced to this.

And yet Loki didn't care. He had other things to worry about.

Like destroying a realm.

* * *

And I've come to the end of this fic. Was a ton of fun writing, especially this portion of it with us being placed in the movie Thor (2011). I couldn't quite remember how the events of that movie goes because it's been so long since I last saw it and I didn't want to skip around to just find scenes of Loki when that stuff probably connected a little to what happens on Earth with Thor. But considering it's a crossover with Aaravos, I'm allowed a little leeway lol.

But, I'm actually really happy how this turns out, even if some things like the ending were a bit unexpected when writing. You can blame the last portion from the scene with Frigga onwards on Doom Days by Bastille since its such a banger and got me to finish this fic a lot sooner.

I'm also hoping I can write a sequel to this when the third season of The Dragon Prince comes out.

Hopefully, it was a good chapter to read! :D


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